Welcome

Hello, my name is Dionne and I have been crafting for a very long time. As a very young child my mother tried to teach me to knit, it was a disaster. However, it must have sparked an interest in making things and, partly to prove that I was not totally useless and partly because I really wanted to make things, I taught myself to crochet. Over the years I have developed a love of cross stitch and all types of paper craft ..... I eventually even taught myself to knit.

I am married to a very understanding man, thank goodness, because I spend all my time either crafting, thinking about crafting or talking about crafting. I am hopeless at housework and dinner is often late!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Dionne

Monday, 30 September 2013

The theme of this challenge is 'Sweet Treats' and it was chosen by my dear friend and teammie Lisette. Your project can feature anything sweet, like cakes, biscuits, cupcakes, lollipops, gingerbread, the list seems almost endless.

I have chosen this rather sizzling image from Saturated Canary called 'Smokin' Hot'. I think that she has been making the most of those last rays of summer and enjoyig her ice cream.

I coloured her with Promarkers and then mounted the image on some red glimmer paper by Stampin' Up. The red paper, which I distressed, is from a Tim Coffey stack by K & Co.

The flowers are by Petaloo and I added a sprinkle of punched branches and some faux pearls, as well as an organza bow.

The rest of the Crafty Boots Challenges Design Team have been very busy making some inspirational pieces, so please pop by and take a look.

Friday, 20 September 2013

Today I am back with another card featuring butterflies to help my friend Mrs Beez raise awareness of the work of the charity Amy and Friends. Amy and Friends supports children suffering from Cockayne Syndrome. The butterfly is the symbol they use to represent those whose lives have been cut short by this illness. Mrs Beez hopes to raise awareness of the disease and the work of Amy and Friends, so please visit her blog and find out more about this important charity.

I wanted to create a celebration of life, a rainbow made of butterflies, to celebrate the wedding anniversary of some dear friends.

As you can see, I created my rainbow with dozens of small butterflies made with with a Martha Stewart punch. I mounted it on some Purfect Plum card and added a organza ribbon bow and some hat pins as well as the sentiment.

Mrs Beez has made a lovely butterfly project for today, so please pop over to her blog to see it and to find out more about Amy and Friends.

Monday, 16 September 2013

Good morning fellow bloggers and a very special welcome to anyone who has found there way here from the Crafty Boots Challenges site.

There is a new challenge starting at Crafty Boots Challenges today, chosen by Helen A, for the next two weeks the Challenge is "A is for Apple". Now that the children are mostly back to school, Helen thought it would be fun to have a school theme, so show us anything to do with apples.

Monday, 9 September 2013

Today I have a birthday card for a very special person to share with you.

My nephew rides his bike everywhere and I wanted a card that would reflect that, but the trouble I had finding a suitable digital image for this card. I eventually tracked this vintage bicycle image at McMahon Five.

I have made this style of card with a stamp but it took a bit of thinking to make a card with a digital image.

By the way, the backing paper is by Stampin' Up and the sentiment is from Kanban Crafts.

I hope you have a very special birthday today James dear and I wish you many, many more of them.

Monday, 2 September 2013

There is a new challenge starting at Crafty Boots Challenges today, chosen by the very lovely Freya, for the next two weeks the Challenge is "The Last Days of Summer". Freya wants you to use your imagination and show us what this means to you.

I thought long and hard about this, trying to decide what it meant to me, Warm summer evenings. swallows swooping low, catching insects. Harvest time, with fields of golden corn and red poppies. It was then that I remembered this Heritage cross stitch chart by John Clayton featuring Thread Bears called 'Scattered Poppies'.

Just look at that face, so grumpy, and he has made such a mess of those poppies.

I love this series of charts, they are so beautiful to make and all the detailing is done with virtually no backstitching. I have stitched it on 32 count even weave fabric.

The rest of the Crafty Boots Challenges Design Team have been very busy making some inspirational pieces, please pop by and take a look.

I am looking forward to seeing what the last days of summer mean to you. Good luck.